


Groundhog Day

by pourpl



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Has anyone done this?, M/M, Physical Pain, Slow Burn, Violence, Vomiting, a lot of anxiety, alluding to dissociation/derealization, and no one else is aware, beginning of season 2, canon compliant with a twist!, end of season 1, hear me out, idk but i have a good plan and its gonna be good i hope, just read i know it's boring now im sorry voltron dialogue gives me nOTHING to work with, keith and lance wake up over and over again, lance gets beat up a lot, lance pov, non-specific anxiety, on the same day, plot heavy, shiro is mean to lance :(, so basically its groundhogs day, the beginning is fucking boring but its necessary, you'll all see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-12 21:33:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13556007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pourpl/pseuds/pourpl
Summary: "This has happened before." Lance cried, fingers kneading at his forehead. "This has all happened before!""Okay, slow down there, Lance." Pidge chuckled nervously, matching the look of skepticism that flooded the rest of his teammates' expressions.The rest except for Keith, who had a strange look on his face, unmoving, unblinking from Lance's eyes.He gave Lance a nod, and suddenly Lance was sure of it. Keith felt it too, and they were alone in that together.Oh, no.Or, Keith and Lance keep waking up and reliving the same day over and over again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> oh hey there, little fellas!  
> so yeah i was gonna post this all in one blow once im finished the whole fic but I realized today, feb 2, is groundhog day and how the hell can i just pass up an opportunity like this to post the chapter I have done? it's kind of confusing, but have any of you seen the movie groundhog day? you know, the one with bill murray where every day he wakes up and its groundhog day and he keeps reliving the same day over and over again?  
> yeah, so basically that happens to keith and lance and they fucking lose their marbles!11!!! 
> 
> i cant wait to not finish this like i have not finished any of the other multichapter fics i have posted! woohoo!
> 
> so basically the first two chapters are going to be canon compliant so they're really boring and im sorry about that but it's necessary. i recommend watching s1e10 before you read this so you understand the context.  
> or don't watever!@!!!!! u do u i hope y'all enjoy

“Lance, wake up.”

 

The words sounded distant, and they flitted through the darkness of Lance’s room and permeated into his subconscious, jerking his mind and body into alertness. 

 

Before they came to space, Lance was a heavy sleeper. He had to be, because someone was always awake in his bustling abode, and if he were to get any sleep he needed to tune it all out. 

 

But after a few months of fighting in space, he had learned to stop sleeping with his eye mask and headphones, and learned to wake at the slightest of motion or sound. 

 

It was integral for all of the paladins to be prepared for combat at the shortest of notice, and every time he was woken up, the thought of the Galra reaching Earth and attacking his family stung in his brain until he had no choice but to spring into action. 

 

So he awoke abruptly, arousing into attention and flashing open his eyes to find Pidge there, sitting on the edge of his bed. He read her face in terror to find it relaxed and monotonous, breathing out a coarse breath that had been trapped in his ribcage. 

 

“Relax.” Pidge noted his solicitude in a chuckle, rubbing her hands together. “We’re all headed to the control deck. I’m gonna try to hack into Sendak’s memories.” 

 

Lance groaned and fell backwards in anguish, placing a clammy hand over a pounding forehead. The sheer name made his blood boil, and he wishes they would just let it go. Shiro already sent him flying out of the castle, and his existence here almost killed all of them. “Why didn’t you just do that in the first place? You know, before he traumatized Shiro and almost got us all killed?” 

 

“ _ He _ didn’t almost get us all killed, it was the cry--” Pidge stopped herself, sighing. “Whatever. Just, get dressed and meet us there.” 

 

Lance crawled out of bed as she left, back aching and head clobbering. He has never gotten a good-night’s sleep in the castle, and he supposed he never would. 

 

\-- 

 

“Somewhere inside Sendak’s memories we should be able to find the inside information that gives us the key to take down Zarkon.” Allura pushed as they all leaned over Pidge. Lance raised his eyebrows as the rapid coding the computer underwent as she typed at impeccably focused speeds. It was too much for Lance to understand, but it certainly was impressive. 

 

“I don’t think your father would approve of searching through an enemy’s memories.” Coran piped skeptically, eyeing Allura. 

Allura relaxed back, dropping her gaze. “I know. But we have to do everything we can to defeat Zarkon.” 

 

“Once we learn all his weaknesses, we can drive up to his front door and challenge him to a fight!” Lance cooed, slapping his fist into his palm. “Winner gets the universe!” 

 

His brain wandered to the glory that would come with defeating Zarkon, foot hiked on his dead armor with all his adoring fans around him in a parade and celebration of his successes. Even Keith would be there, gushing over his victory. 

 

But the real Keith and the others looked unamused, eyes narrowing in his direction. He broke from his fantasy as they all continued to ignore him, drawing the focus back to Pidge. 

 

“Anything good yet?” Shiro asked, uncrossing his arms. 

 

“We were only able to salvage bits and pieces.” Pidge mumbled, deadpan. The rest of them sighed. 

 

“We need something to work with.” Keith stated. “Right now we don’t even have a decent map of the empire.” 

 

Lance folded his arms, resentful of his antagonism. “Who needs a map? After 10,000 years of conquering, I could probably fire my bayard at any random point in space and hit a Galra ship.” 

 

“If we could just find troop locations or supply routes, small targets we could hit-and-run,” Shiro lamented. “Then we could start to free planets one by one.”

 

Lance rolled his eyes. “Boooring, I want the big kaboom!” 

 

Shiro was unimpressed with his pretention. “Zarkon’s been building his empire for 10,000 years. We’re not going to tear it down overnight with five inexperienced pilots and one support ship. Hitting him where he lives would be a huge mistake.” 

 

Lance’s shoulders dropped and the truth of the statement wafted through the air, sending all of them into the stark realization of how difficult it would be to make a dent in his success. They were a ragtag group of teenagers and aliens, as well as two adults, one of whom was slightly neurotic and one of whom with an enemy-controlled prosthetic. Yet they were the universe’s last hope, and it wasn’t clear where to start. No one knew what they were getting into, as much as they tried to prepare for it. 

 

Pidge broke the silence, speaking up. “Okay, I’ve crossed-referenced Sendak’s memories with the info I got from the downed ship back on Arus. Most of it was a garbled mess, but one thing kept repeating. Something called a ‘Universal Station’.” 

 

“ _ Universal Station _ ?” Hunk echoed, leaning over the computer. “Like, the kind of station that controls the entire universe? 

 

“Well, we’re translating it from  _ Galra _ , so it could be also be ‘Galactic Hub’.” Pidge corrected, moving Hunk’s face out of the way to position herself in front of the screen. 

 

“Or ‘Space Base’!” Lance shot back with his signature finger guns, attempting to lighten the mood as always. But again, no one was entertained. He blinked, folding his arms and turning back to the group. “What?” 

 

“I’m pulling up the location of your Universal Hub...Station Base on our screens now.” Coran declared, moving to transfer the coordinates. The screen lit up with the detection of three planets, looking relatively dormant with no base or activity.

 

“So...where is it?” Lance asked, raising an eyebrow. 

 

“I don’t know. Our long-range sensors are unable to find anything at those coordinates…” 

 

“Maybe he remembered it wrong.” Keith guessed. 

 

“Or maybe we just stumbled across a top-secret base in Sendak’s memories.” Pidge murmured, head in her hands thoughtfully. 

 

“Only one way to find out. Let’s go take a look.” Allura said, voice growing determined. And with that they were off, castle zooming through the expanses of Space ahead and towards the coordinates. 

 

Lance stretched his arms above his head, exhaustion coursing through his muscles. “How long is this going to take?” 

 

Coran pressed a few buttons and turned to Lance. “About a dobosh or so.” 

 

The group let out a collective exhale of dull exasperation, anxious to see what they were about to encounter, but realizing that space was a lot larger than comprehensible. Despite the coordinates being within their sector, it was still going to take a good amount of time to arrive, and when Coran said a dobosh, it was more like two or three. 

 

Lance slumped into a sitting position, rolling his neck and feeling it crack beneath him. “I’m gonna take a nap.” 

 

“Don’t bother. We won’t be able to wake you up if you fall asleep.” Keith grumbled. 

 

“Hey, that’s not true!” Lance called, folding his legs into his chest defensively. “I’m much more alert since that one time.” 

 

“What time? When you almost cost us our lives by being late to the hangars? Or that other time when you couldn’t get your lazy a--”

 

“Quiet, you too.” Shiro scolded, turning to glare at them. “If Lance wants to take a nap, he can. We’re all a little exhausted.” 

 

“I’m not in the mood anymore.” Lance carped, hunching his shoulders inside of his jacket. Shiro paced to the edge of the room and set his jaw, staring out into the atmosphere of the surrounding planets and the dazzle of the stars. Coran turned to the control panel, opting to run more scans on the command center and its origin. Keith remained grounded, arms crossed as Hunk moved to lie down in his chair, next to Pidge. 

 

Lance let out a sigh, unable to focus on any one activity and itching for something to do to pass the time. His hands flew to one of the strings on his jacket, picking at the soft threads with the tips of his nails, vision blurring without a particular purpose of action. He wished he had his phone, or some of his video games from home. Even a board game would be nice right now, and the thought immediately began to make his heart ache. Nostalgia and longing filled his chest, weighing him down at the concept of being able to say goodbye to his family and pack up a few belongings before heading off to space for the next who-knows-how-many-years. But he hadn’t had the chance to do any of that, and now he was stuck fidgeting with a sweatshirt string and the inability to sleep soundly. 

 

Once he had successfully split the string into hundreds of miniscule threads between his thumb and forefinger, he decided it had been long enough and they would probably be there soon. Hunk had fallen asleep and Shiro had successfully paced around the perimeter of the deck at least twelve times. Lance resided parallel to Keith on the other side of Allura near Pidge who had also risen, fixing his gaze on the approaching planets they had seen before. Time felt weird in space, and even with the least to do, sometimes it flew by rapidly. 

 

“We should be close enough to get a good scan.” Allura voiced as Lance stretched again, rocking his torso to feel the muscles of his abdomen dilate. A yawn filtered from his mouth. “But far enough away to avoid being noticed.” 

 

Hunk seemed to have awoken, falling to the floor in a gasp only to join the rest of the group a few seconds later. The castle swooped around the red swirling planet, a large mass that reminded Lance of a Venus-Jupiter hybrid. So far, that has been his way of classifying planets. But he predicted that it wouldn’t last for long as they were in space, and soon he would detach his allocation from that of Earth’s solar system. Because really, they were completely separate. 

 

The Jupus planet moved to reveal a large ship structure, crashed into a tiny planet-looking contraption, possibly manmade. All of their eyes widened at the sight.

 

“There it is.” Shiro stated, unfolding his arms and sitting in his control seat to study the phenomenon. 

 

The castleship dragged on, moving closer to the hub and its massively intimidating appearance. “It appears the gravitation between the two planets warps the electron emission spectrum enough to keep the planet off the deep space scanners.” Coran said, pulling up an advance diagram that depicted the vacuum of the anomaly. 

 

“So you can only see it if you really know where to look.” Pidge noted, scratching at her chin. 

 

“This place must handle shipments from all over the Galra empire.” Shiro breathed, observing the current traffic flow in and out from the port. 

 

“If this is some big airport where shipments come and go, why is it hidden?” Pidge questioned. It seemed like a reasonable question, how would they be able to efficiently transport cargo if it was so concealed? It must have been some important cargo. 

 

“There must be more to this than we’re seeing.” Shiro said. 

 

“Then we’d better go down to take a look. We’ll need to enter here, the central control building.” Allura confirmed. Lance was inconspicuously uneasy about how close they were going to get, and was sure that they wouldn’t resist attacking them with lazers as soon as they came into view. But Allura knew best….and wait, did she say we?

 

“I’m sorry, Princess, did you say ‘we’?” Keith turned, voicing Lance’s thoughts, raising his eyebrow. 

 

“I’m going with you.” Allura said matter-of-factly. “I’ve traveled through the Galra transportation hubs many times with my father before the war began. I know more about them than any of you.” 

 

Lance was taken aback at her tenacity, dubious to the chance that he would ever see Allura leave the castle in a mission. That is, before they went to the Balmera and she proved them  _ all _ wrong. So, was it really that shocking? He decided not. 

 

“Princess, I’d rather you stay here.” Coran said, sounding like a father. 

 

“I’m a part of this fight against Zarkon as much as anyone.” Allura shot back in stern apprehension. “I’m going. Does anyone have a problem with that?” 

 

She looked around at the rest of them with a stare that could pierce through steel. The group stayed silent as Coran stammered and sputtered with indignance. Of course they were wary about letting Allura join them, especially since some things had to be different since she had been there 10,000 years before. But she was determined and certainly capable, and when Allura set her mind to something, no one could change it. 

 

“Fine, suit up.” Even Shiro was unwilling to argue, shrugging his shoulders at the appalled Coran. 

 

“Look, it’s understandable that you’re overprotective of Allura, Coran.” Lance piped up, feeling it was an appropriate time to put in his two-sense. “She is the last of your kind.” 

 

“Exactly!” 

 

“But this woman can  _ handle _ herself.” Lance said with a suggestive tone, nudging Allura. She swatted his hand away. 

 

“You started out so well, and then it just went downhill.” Keith said, a disgusted look spreading across his face. 

 

“What?” Lance put his hands up in feigned innocence. “I was being  _ nice _ .” 

 

“No, Lance, you were being  _ creepy _ .” Pidge sighed, pushing past them to head out the doors.

 

“Where are you going?” Lance asked, turning to face her. 

 

“Well, we’re gonna need to fly in the green lion if we want to stay hidden.” 

 

Everyone nodded in understanding, stationary. 

 

“Well?” Pidge asked, folding her arms. “Aren’t you coming?” 

 

Everyone collectively realized what she was implying and let out an ‘Ohhhhh’ before following her out the doors and down to the hangars. 

 

On their way down, Shiro explained the plan to everyone before they could go off to their separate zip lines and get into uniform.  

 

“We’ll go in low, fast, and hopefully undetected. Coming around the dark side of the nearest planet should keep them from getting a visual on us. Thanks to Pidge’s modifications to the green lion, we’ll have thirty seconds of cloaking.” 

 

“I can flood their short-range sensors with a radiation burst. That should buy you a minute or so, while they assume it’s cosmic interference. But after that, it’s up to you to be out of sight.” Coran said through the coms.

 

It had become second nature to them, receiving orders and carrying out plans, and it seemed that they were reaching a point of consistency and efficiency with their team. Sure, they were still a ragtag group of teens and aliens, but at least they had some sort of direction, and a newfound confidence sprung up in Lance’s chest with this information. At least now they were making strides towards an actual offensive move. This mission might be a turning point for them. 

 

Instead of dropping into their own lions, they all convened outside of green in full armor, quickly shuffling in to her cockpit. If they were to complete this mission, they would have to do it fast.

Unfortunately, the cockpit of green wasn’t apt to fit all six of them. They were quite squished. Lance scooted in next to Allura, pressing at her side. 

 

“Stop breathing on my neck, Lance.” Pidge whined from her seat, thrusting the lion into ignition. 

 

“This is way too tight,” Hunk breathed from her right, trying to find a comfortable position to stand in as the lion sped up out of the castle. 

 

“I actually don’t mind being all  _ up close and personal, _ ” Lance ogled, brushing up against Allura with wiggling eyebrows. 

 

Allura groaned and shoved Lance hard in his rib cage, pushing him straight into Keith whose sharp jaw stabbed his cheek, lips brushing near his temple. Lance toppled into him, sending Keith careening backwards into the back of the cabin, Lance’s chest pressed into Keith. 

 

“Get  _ off _ me!” Keith hissed, pushing Lance back and knocking his head into Pidge’s seat. Lance groaned as a ringing crescendoed into his ears.

 

“ _ Hey _ !” Pidge yelled, hands nearly slipping off Green’s controls as they zoomed around the Jupus planet. 

 

“Knock it off!” Shiro barked, picking Lance up off the floor. “I know it’s tight, but we’ll be out in a few minutes.” 

 

“Why are you yelling at me? I’m the one getting thrown around!” Lance complained, nursing the bruise that was forming on his cheek and the back of his head. 

 

“Allura wouldn’t’ve had to shove you if you weren’t being  _ creepy _ ,” Pidge snarled. 

 

“But it was such a  _ hard shove _ !” Lance wailed, rubbing his side. 

 

“Oops.” Allura said dully, blatantly insincere. 

 

“Everyone shush. We’re getting in range. Pidge’s cloaking will deactivate soon. We’ll need to be quick.” 

 

The group fell into silence, leaning into the dashboard as Pidge lowered them down to the ground, perched above the base. They pulled their helmets on and extended their bayards in taciturnity, moving out by Shiro’s signal. 

 

“All I’m saying is I deserve an apology.” Lance whispered as they jogged down a steep hill towards the control center, his gun drawn. 

 

“I’m sorry for shoving you into the chair.” Keith’s voice was monotone and mimicked Allura’s disingenuity. Lance clenched his teeth and ignored the urge to trip him, not wanting to give  Shiro another reason to yell. 

 

They reached the door and slipped in silently as the robotic voice of a soldier came over a loudspeaker in the room, perking up the ears of the sentries. “Interference clear in three, two, one…” They remained oblivious to the five humans and one alien behind them, calculating their first move. 

 

Lance saw an opening and raised his gun, moving the sensor to line up with the back of what seemed to be the commander, inhaling in preparation. But Shiro stopped him by placing a hand on the barrel, lowering it as his eyes remained forward, slinking himself closer to the soldier. 

 

Lance wanted to scream. That was about the most stupid move he could think of, only heightening their chance of getting caught and capitulating the element of surprise, which was pretty much the only thing the paladins had going for them. But no one protested, because the rest of them were still attempting to remain undetected and Shiro was their leader--Shiro knew best. If his plan was to go right up to the commander and ask him to step aside, the rest of them would follow without hesitance. 

 

Shiro snuck right up behind the soldier, leaning towards him as a smile curled through his cheeks. The soldier yawned, eyes sweeping over their controls while Shiro let out a “Psst. Hey” 

 

The soldier turned around and Shiro kicked them in the face, clearly showing off for no particular reason, other than to have a little fun, Lance guessed. The sentries turned around to find the paladins there, bayards at the ready and smirks peeling over their faces. Lance found another opening and fired two quick and precise shots, immediately disabling the two sentries. The rest slumped at missing the chance of attack, all of them itching to kick some Galra ass. But Lance just smirked, hopping down to the lower deck. “Gotta be quick.”

 

He pulled the sentry into the corner as the rest set up around the controls and padded closer to the group. 

 

“How’s it look out there?” Shiro called to Keith who peered out the window, searching for signs of distress. 

 

“All clear.” Keith responded sternly while Hunk plugged in the computer to the information hub. 

 

“This shouldn’t take too long.” He said, pulling back to let Pidge work her magic. 

 

“We’ll have all the information we need in a few minutes. Hunk and I have made some improvements since the last time I tried to download Galra info. We should get a nice, clean translation immediately. Hunk had a great idea about how to do it.” 

 

They turned to Hunk who basked in the spotlight, happy to get the recognition he deserved. “Do you guys remember when we studied algorithms at the Garrison and Mr. York told us that joke about the ghost learning symbolic logic….?” 

 

The ringing in his ears had persisted the whole time, and as Lance’s focused blurred, the sound easily overpowering Hunk’s voice. It trailed off in Lance’s mind as he studied the deck, scanning out over the lookout for any sort of information that the base revealed.  But it all seemed cryptic and relatively quiet, sprinkled with few sentries who didn’t seem to be doing specific tasks, some scribbling on clipboards. It was odd. 

 

“Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, but I think we got company.” Keith’s voice rang out, shaking Lance out of his stupor of confusion. 

 

A shadow shaded over the group, obviously from a large ship that was arriving into the port. They all ducked, trying to conceal themselves as much as possible. It landed in front of them with a whirr and mechanical buzzes that sounded menacing in their own regard. Lance would deny the chill that ran up his spine, but it was something that came to him every time he witnessed a Galra ship. He decided that part of him would never get used to seeing aliens. 

  
Speaking of aliens, he crouched down next to Allura and looked over Pidge’s shoulder as she typed faster, trying to gather the information as quickly as possible. They all knew this could mean trouble. 

 

“Think we should get out of here?” Keith asked warily. 

 

“We just need a few more seconds.” Pidge licked her lips, leaning into the computer with rapid fingers. 

 

“Stay low. We need this intel.” Shiro commanded. Lance crouched down further, ignoring the prickle that ran up his arms and caught in his throat. 

Just then, the computer beeped and a screen popped up, clearly indicating that someone was trying to contact the command center through video. Lance leaned forward, narrowing his eyes with clenched teeth at the screen. 

 

“Get down!” Keith shouted, wrapping an arm around Lance’s shoulders and pulling him to the floor. Lance’s chin hit the metallic surface with a thud, only heightening the vociferous ringing that coursed through his skull. He turned his head to Keith, mouthing an angry “ _ Ow _ !”, and Keith only dragged his gaze to Lance for a second before mouthing back “ _ You’re welcome, _ ” 

 

Before Lance could protest or flick him in the head, a Galra general walked on the screen in front of them, arms behind their back. They surveyed the screen in front of them, eyebrow raising in confusion. Lance’s heartbeat sped.

 

“They’re still looking. I think they’re waiting for a signal or something.” Lance calculated in a hushed tone. Keith caught his eye and nodded, as if almost in recognition that Lance had actually deduced something correct for once. Lance took that as a victory.

 

“I got it.” Hunk murmured, pulling out from under the desk with one of the deactivated sentries behind him. He propped them up into view for the general, giving them a signal of acquiescence before the general nodded and ended the call, the paladins breathing in relief. 

 

“Nice job, Hunk!” Lance smirked, and Hunk thanked him before giving him a high five from the limp soldier. 

 

“Okay, download is complete.” Pidge called out, the other paladins joining her from their hiding places. 

 

“What’s it say?” 

 

“Nothing. This place doesn’t have any useful information.” Pidge said with a tone of slight discouragement. “Just a schedule of the ships coming in and out.”

 

Lance huffed. “Well, I guess this mission was a bust.” So much for the blaring chime of hell in his left ear and a shattered rib cage. 

 

“Let’s get back to the Castle.” Shiro said, but Allura stopped them. 

 

“Pidge, do you know where that ship is headed?” 

 

She scanned through the computer, eyes dashing over the hundreds of data translations. “Um, it’s scheduled to be here for about a half an hour, then head off to central command.” 

Allura stood up audaciously. “That’s where they have the information we need, and I’m going to sneak aboard that ship and get it for us.” 

 

“What? No way!” Not that Lance doubted Allura, but it was overly ambitious and highly precarious of a plan. So many things could go on, and there was no way Allura could get in and out of that ship unscathed. 

 

“How are you going to get in?” Keith asked, lifting an incredulous hand. 

 

Allura smiled. “I’m going to walk right through the front.” 

 

With that she closed her eyes, and then Lance really thought he had hit his head  _ hard _ because Allura’s skin seemed to turn a tinge of purple and she actually began to grow in size, Altean markings fading from her disposition. She was now at least two whole feet taller than Lance. 

 

Lance’s mouth gaped open and he blinked a few times, placing a hand to his forehead and wondering if he was psychotic and his mind was turning to hallucinating as a coping mechanism. 

 

“How the heck did you do that?!” Hunk blared and Lance realized that this was not part of his imagination. His mouth hung open. 

 

“The Alteans are a chameleon-like people who can blend in with the local population. It’s the ability that’s made us great explorers and diplomats throughout our history.” 

 

“So, can you turn into, like, a balloon?!” 

 

“How many different colors can you be at once? 

 

“Aren’t you afraid to rip your pants?” 

 

Allura’s brow furrowed. “No, just one at a time, and I will need a change of costume. I can use their uniform as a disguise.” 

 

Talk about a Deus Ex Machina.

 

Shiro piped up. “I can’t let you go in there alone.” 

 

Allura turned to him, tone oozing with insolence. “Excuse me? I do not need your permission.” 

 

Lance smirked. Damn right she didn’t. 

 

“It’s too dangerous. I’m going in with you.” 

 

Shiro sure did underestimate the strength and resiliency that was Allura. If she proved anything in the past few months, it was that she could handle herself. 

 

“You will stick out like a Choferiak’s nose.” Allura spat, towering over Shiro. 

 

“You’re going to need that nose, Princess.” PIdge spoke up, lifting Shiro’s arm. “Shiro’s hand is made from Galra tech It’s the only thing we have that will allow us to interface with their systems and gather intel. I can monitor the download remotely from here.” 

 

Allura exhaled. “Fine, you can come.” 

 

They set off after a few bumps that included figuring out how to get Shiro on board and figuring out how to get him inside the cart that they were using, but eventually they succeeded, fully infiltrating the Galra ship and boarding it as it docked. 

 

Hunk, Lance, and Keith released a simultaneous exhale. “They’re in.” 

 

Keith looked down, eyeing a multitude of fat canisters holding some glowing yellow liquid that the Galra were loading. “What do you think they have in all those giant containers?” 

 

“Well, I suspect that it’s sporks.” Hunk said in an extraneous statement that sent both Lance and Keith lifting an eyebrow. “This is an advanced race we’re talking about here. Surely they’ve learned that it’s foolish to have forks  _ and _ spoons, when one will efficiently do the job.” 

 

“Maybe this guy will tell us.” Pidge said plainly, sitting cross-legged in front of the sentry that she had hooked up wires to. “What is coming in and out of this station?” 

 

The sentry began blinking red in its face, bleating out an  _ “Interrogation detected. Initiating lockdown.” _

 

Its head fell limp again and Pidge furrowed her brow. “Not talking, eh?” 

 

Her fingers began typing rapidly again and Lance shook his head, wishing that he had the brains to understand one ounce of the hacking that she so flawlessly pulled off. But that was never his strong suit, he was smart in other areas and succeeded in different ways than Pidge. Or at least, that’s what his mom would remind him when he called her at the Garrison and whined, and it was what he told himself to feel better every time someone one-upped him. Mostly Keith.  _ They’re just different, not better. You’re good in your own respective ways.  _

 

“Whoa. Check out this guy.” Keith called, grabbing Lance’s arm and pulling him to attention. 

 

They peered down at a Galra in a long purple cloak, ominous in figure standing before the large containers of...sporks…

 

“Whatever’s happening here requires the base to be kept secret. Must have something to do with that scary dude.” 

 

Lance shivered at the maliciously intimidating cloaked figure, looking like something out of nightmares or freakish horror movies. No way would he ever want to get  _ close _ to one of those things. 

 

“I’m gonna go check it out.” Keith said, eyebrows creasing in determination. He stood up and Lance lowered his gaze. How could he be so stupid? Why would he voluntarily want to pervade into a aberrant ship full of lunatic, homicidal purple beings and risk all of their safeties? Why would he want to go  _ near _ one of them? It was the complete opposite of logical.

 

“How about we just lay low and you don’t blow our cover?” Lance suggested as Keith walked by him, not even attempting to listen. Lance dropped his eyebrows. 

 

“Keith, think about you’re doing...”  _ For once _ , Lance wanted to add in, along with shaking Keith by the shoulders and telling him he was stupid and irrational and was going to get all of them killed. But he didn’t seem to think,  _ ever _ , and he didn’t stop either. Lance huffed out air and placed a hand on an impatient hip. “Don’t walk through that door!” 

 

But Keith was used to tuning people out and going with his gut and nearly getting himself murdered in the process for a thrill, and he walked straight through without giving Lance one ounce of his regret. 

 

“I think I told him.” Lance told himself, because what else did he have left besides a little faith in his own authority?

 

Pidge looked up at him and raised her eyebrows sarcastically. “You are a paragon of leadership, Lance.” 

 

Lance slumped down next to her, swinging back his head. “I know that was supposed to be  _ sarcastic _ , Pidge, but you can agree with me that that was a bad idea.” 

 

Pidge shrugged, barely looking away from her hacking. “Keith seems to do whatever he wants and gets away with it. We need intel, he’s right, and any intel on the Galra is helpful intel.”

 

“But aren’t you worried? About what could happen to him?” Lance said, voice coming out much more concerned that it needed to be. 

 

Hunk turned around, moving to sit near them. “Are you?”

 

“‘Am I’ what? Worried about Keith? No, why would I be worried about Keith? I mean, I wouldn’t want him to die, of course, even if he is my rival--” 

 

“So why are you saying anything?” Pidge smirked, the conversation now grasping at her attention. Lance growled.

 

“Look, I’m not worried about Shiro and Allura. They’re both highly intelligent people and Zarkon would probably piss his pants at the sight of either of them. They’re terrifyingly badass. But Keith is... _ Keith _ . He’s  _ puny _ . He acts tough but he has no idea what he’s doing. He doesn’t think before he acts. He’s gonna get himself killed, and the rest of us by blowing our cover and sending an every single fleet of Galra after all of Voltron.”

 

Hunk and Pidge blinked at him dubiously and then burst into laughter, obviously not agreeing with him. 

 

“Keith will be  _ fine _ , Lance.” 

“Don’t worry buddy, he’ll be okay.” 

“Aw, that’s  _ adorable _ he’s so scared.” 

“All of the Galra? Hahahaha…” 

 

Lance ignored their patronizing giggles and slumped into his seating position, wishing Shiro was here to knock some sort of sense into Keith and tell the others to listen to Lance, because he was  _ right _ . 

 

But Shiro wouldn’t do something like that, because he never paid any attention to Lance’s input and failed to take him seriously. He rolled his eyes at the thought and sunk down further, grumbling about how no one ever listened to him and they were all going to die because of it.  

 

\--

 

Once picking fun at Lance had ceased to be relevant, Pidge had returned to her hacking and Hunk had resided next to the sentry, bordemn resulting in the use of wires to make it hit itself. 

 

“Stop torturing it, Hunk.” Pidge scolded. 

 

“I’m sorry, I just need something to keep me busy.” He murmured, picking with the wires anxiously and practically short-circuiting the sentries mechanical brain from the impact. 

 

“Stop it, Hunk. I think we can teach it to help us.” Pidge snapped, smacking Hunk’s hands off the controls. “Would you like to help us, Mr. Robot?” 

 

It’s head began shaking rapidly and Lance peered up into the ceiling, trying to find something to focus on. He didn’t want to think about the probability of their imminent death, or Keith’s, or anyone else’s if they didn’t make some advances on the Galra. He didn’t want to think about home, or the way his mother’s hair smelled, or the sound of his siblings clobbering through the house. He didn’t want to think about how long it would be until they got back to Earth, and he certainly didn’t want to worry about how it would be different if and when they made it back. So he did the only thing he knew how to do to distract himself from the horrors of reality: he thought about girls. 

 

“Quick question, does Allura ever talk about me when I’m not in the room?” 

 

“Oh yeah, all the time.” Hunk responded boastfully. 

 

Lance sprung into alertness. “Really?!” 

 

“Yeah, yeah, she’s all like, ‘Oh Lance, he looks so fine. I’m all atwitter!’, then she turns red and she makes me swear not to tell anyone.” 

 

A smile creeped on to Lance’s face, despite the contingency that Hunk was probably messing with him. “I knew it!” 

 

And then the sentry’s arm came out of nowhere and punched Lance in the side of his head, directly into the spot where he hit it before. 

 

He crumbled to the floor and howled in pain, the ringing in his ear now almost louder than his screams. His head began to throb and his arms began to lose their feeling, and suddenly he felt like he was going to die. 

 

“Lance! Stop screaming!” Hunk yelled over him, though to Lance it sounded obscure and like his words were coming through water. He and Pidge rushed over to Lance and sat there awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do. Lance continued his shrieking as tears prodded at his eyes, flowing down his face and he decided that he had never felt this much pain in his entire life. Every part of his body hurt, and there was a numb, dull ache beating through him that sent him quaking in his fetal position. 

 

“Lance!” Pidge yelled, trying to shake him now. 

 

“Okay, that’s definitely not helping, Pidge!” Hunk yelled back through the ocean and fog, removing her hands from him and moving closer to Lance. “Shhhhhhhhhhh.” 

 

Lance’s wails quieted to wimpers, because it was really doing him no use and he fell into Hunk, tears blurring his vision and head pounding. “I’m gonna die.” 

 

“You’re not going to die, Lance.” Pidge said in muffled pleads, gingerly pulling Lance’s helmet off of him. Lance yelped at the feeling but quieted at the sensation of air hitting the wound on his head. 

 

“Good thing you were wearing that.” Pidge muttered, putting his helmet off to the side to inspect the contact point. 

 

“What the  _ hell _ did you think you were doing, Pidge?!” Lance screeched, probably louder than necessary. 

 

“I’m sorry! It was an accident, it’s not like I told the sentry to hit you!” 

 

Lance grumbled and pawed at his head, feeling the wound damp and removing his hand to find thick blood. He sniveled and shook, and his head fell into Hunk’s stomach, closing his eyes tight to try and force the pain or the ringing out. 

 

“Lance, look, I love you, buddy, but you’re getting blood all over my armor, and we need to find a first aid kit.” Hunk gingerly removed Lance’s head and placed it on Pidge and she let out a mumble of protest before awkwardly patting Lance’s forehead. Lance sighed. 

 

“What makes you think there’d be a first aid kit? Do robots even  _ need _ first aid?” She protested. 

 

“I don’t know, but we have to….” 

 

The words drifted off in Lance’s mind as his vision grew spotty and the ringing grew louder, and Lance thought sleeping felt like a really good idea right now. He was so tired, and he hurt all over, and it would be great if he could just seep into the…

 

“No no no! You have to keep him conscious, Pidge!” A voice rang out, knocking Lance back as a warm hand nudged his cheek. He slapped the hand away, because that cheek was still in the shape of Keith’s chin and it hurt like hell. 

 

“I’m trying!” Pidge whined, shifting under Lance. “Sit up, Lance!” 

 

Lance’s torso was propped into erection and he moaned, body beginning to quake. His stomach gurgled and his hands flew to his mouth, bile rising up his throat. 

 

“Oh god, he’s gonna puke!” Pidge cried, moving out from under Lance before he spilled his breakfast onto the floor, throat burning and head spinning. 

 

“Found it!” Hunk said from miles away and Lance resumed a curled position and let his body writhe, feeling like this had to be the end. His brain felt like butter in his skull and his legs resembled that of pasta sauce. He shut his eyes, wishing he could sink into the floor. The floor let him, and suddenly it was very dark. 

 

“No, no no no no!” He heard someone shout, and it sounded like his little brother. A smile came to a jello face because it was safe and warm, and his arms reached out to hug his brother, wishing he was there to encase him in pudgy arms and soothe his aches. 

 

“Wake up, Lance!” 

And fingertips were pulling at his eyelids, and strong arms were propping him up against the dashboard. Light sunk into his brain but did not compute information. All he could hear was a bell, chiming incessantly in a long string of melody. It wasn’t a nice bell. 

 

“I hope this works.” Someone said. And then a cool, moist, wad of something was pressed to Lance’s head and his eyes flew into attention. 

 

His body snapped and his pupils adjusted to find Pidge and Hunk in front of him, concerned but smiling. “Looks like it works.” 

 

“Where’d you get that?” Lance heard himself ask, snaking his hand up to meet Hunk’s where the pad was being pressed. 

 

“Found a first aid kit, under the dashboard.” Hunk smiled. “Convenient, right?” 

 

“Not as convenient as Lance’s vomit, couldn’t you have done that in that trash basin?” Pidge pointed to his left and Lance let out a weak smile, the ringing in his ears slowly fading into a dull buzz. He let his head fall back, groaning out. 

 

“Why did I have to be the punching bag today?” 

 

“Sorry, Lance.” Pidge grumbled, giving his shoulder another halfhearted pat. “I’ll try to work on that sentry’s reflexes.”

 

“My head is spinning.” 

 

“You take it easy, okay?” Hunk cooed, handing Lance a newly-dampened gauze and proceeding to throw the other one away. 

 

“Pidge?” A voice came through the coms and they sprang to attention, noting Shiro’s imperative but sedated tone. 

 

They rushed over to the computer, letting Lance stand up slowly with his hand to his head, pressing harder into the side of his mussed-up hair. His arm was already tired of holding the gauze, so he grabbed his helmet and wedged it in there, placing it carefully back on to his head. Now the pressure was soothing, and Lance relaxed into a prone position near Pidge. He probably wasn’t going to die. 

 

“Ready, Shiro.” Pidge responded sternly, fingers prone over her keypad. 

 

“Okay, start the download.” Shiro said through the coms. Lance couldn’t imagine how the hell they had gotten into a control room successfully, but then again, how could he doubt Allura and Shiro?

‘

“Generating access code.” Pidge muttered, fingers flying over the keys anxiously. Lance leaned down next to her, heart beat pulsing through his ears. Or was that the ringing? He couldn’t tell, but if Shiro and Allura were in there, they weren’t going to have a lot of time. She needed to be quick. “We’re in.”

 

But as the screen changed, a red Galra symbol flashed over the screen.

 

Pidge cursed under her breath, fingers speeding up. They didn’t have enough time for these impediments. “Pidge, I think there’s a problem.” 

 

“Sit tight, I’m trying to work around this.” She responded stoically. What if the Galra were notified? What if they were on their way? They were going to die. They were all going to die. 

 

_ “Scanning for information.”  _  The computer blared and Lance leaned back, praying that there was some way Pidge would be able to override the system. His head began to pound again. 

 

“Pidge…” Shiro’s voice was thick with urgency and that couldn’t be good, because Shiro never lost his cool. 

 

“I’m on it, I’m on it!” 

 

Muffled, distant voices came through Shiro’s com of Galran voices and Lance’s hands flew into his mouth, biting nervously at his cuticles. It was a bad habit but without his sweatshirt strings, it was the only thing that seemed to calm him at the moment. Shiro and Allura were going to die.

 

A gasp from Shiro came through the com and Hunk began rocking back and forth. Sweat dripped down the side of Pidge’s face. 

 

“Hurry up, Pidge.” Shiro hissed exigently. Lance whined in exasperation. 

 

“Almost there!” 

 

More voices. More anxiety. “Uh, it’s Plytox!” Shiro said in a feigned deep voice. 

 

Hunk and Lance made confused eye contact across from each other. Lance shrugged, shoulders shaking meagerly. 

 

They heard a breath of relief from Shiro and all of them relaxed, before Keith’s voice came through the coms. 

 

“Coran, you need to see this.” 

 

A projection from Keith’s view came up in front of the paladins, a large room stacked to the brim with the yellow containers from earlier, lined up and overcrowded in a cathedral formation with a purple swirling up in the center. Lance furrowed his brow. It was terrifying. Pidge paused her typing. 

 

They heard a gasp from Coran. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

 

“What  _ is _ that?” Pidge wondered, narrowing her eyes. 

 

Suddenly, a signal blared out of the sentry behind them, almost making Lance fall backwards in surprise. 

 

_ “The material is quintessence.”   _ It spoke, direct and colorless. “The substance with the highest known energy per unit volume in the universe.” 

 

“Hey, nice job, Pidge!” Lance smiled. “You made it work for us.” 

 

“What?” Coran snarled, flabbergasted. “Impossible!” 

 

_ “Raw quintessence material is transported here from throughout the galaxy and refined into standardized Galra fuel requirements.”  _

 

Lance’s eyes widened. 

 

“Did you guys hear that?” Pidge asked through the coms, slumping down. 

 

“I can’t believe it.” Coran said. “They found a new way to acquire quintessence!”

 

Lance wasn’t quite sure what that meant, or how bad this was, but gauging Coran’s reaction, they should all be worried. Well, it was a safe bet to assume that everything the Galra executed to their advantage was something to be worried about. 

 

“Guys, I’m going to steal some of this quint...whatever.” Keith’s voice rang through the coms and Lance snarled. Of course Keith would try to show off and do something stupid. But before Lance could scold him Pidge was back with her download, successfully transferring the intel from Shiro’s Galra hand to their computer. Her eyes lit up at the information pouring through. 

 

But her expression wasn’t content for long as the sirens began blaring. 

 

“Shit!” Pidge cursed, hands flying to her board. 

 

_ “Fugitive prisoner 117-9875 detected.”  _ A blaring computerized voice came through the com, sending all of the paladins flying backwards in fear. _ “Remain where you are. Security alerted.”  _

Dim voices and laser guns resounded through the coms, stifled by quick movements and the hoarse breathing of Shiro, and then silence. 

 

“Shit.” Pidge said. 

 

“ _ Shit! _ ” Lance echoed, grabbing at her armor. “Can you fix it? Can you fix the connection? Are they okay, do you know,  _ do you have any idea _ ?” 

 

“Lance, relax. We don’t know anything yet, sh--she’s trying.” Hunk assured, placing an hand on Lance’s shoulder, voice shaking. 

 

Just then, Keith’s strangled voice came through the coms. “Pidge, I need an extraction. Now! Hurry!” 

 

It was practically overlapped with the staticy voice of Shiro; “Pidge, fire up the green lion. We’re coming in hot!” 

 

Lance sprung into attention, mind moving faster than any of his body parts could. His head yelled at him to  _ stop moving right now _ , but he ignored it and the incessant buzzing that still reverberated in his mind. Hunk moved with him but Pidge was stuck to her computer, typing out some last commands. 

 

“Come  _ on _ !” Lance hissed. 

 

She pressed a few more dictations into the keyboard pad before snapping her computer shut and rising to action. “Let’s move.” 

 

They raced out of the control center and tumbled back up the hill, Lance’s legs carrying him reluctantly at speeds that made his numb limbs sting with exertion. He ignored it as much as possible, knowing that the safety of his team was way more important than his legion of injuries. 

 

They scrambled into the green lion and Pidge rushed it into life, sending Hunk and Lance flying forward with the inertia. They were all unbelievably tense, and this was the closest they had gotten to the worst situation of their lives. 

 

“Where are we going first?” Pidge asked, practically yelling out of pure adrenaline. 

 

“I don’t know, which sounded more urgent?” Hunk screamed back. Lance gripped the side of Pidge’s chair and willed the headache and the ringing to quiet down for a few seconds so he could think. 

 

“Well, we better make a decision!!” Pidge called as they reached the point where they would have to swerve left for Shiro and Allura, and right for Keith. 

Lance waffled in his head until the ringing overpowered all of his thoughts and he sunk to the ground, hands over his ears willing it to _ stop, stop, stop, stop. _

 

There was a crash and a blinding light and Lance realized Pidge had made the decision to break through the entire roof, no time for a proper entrance. 

 

Lance blinked his eyes open to find them inside of the room that Keith had projected to them, and Keith in front of them, dripping with a gooey substance surrounded in purple flashes of light and electricity. “Get in! We’ve got to get Shiro and Allura!” 

 

Green’s mouth opened and there was a hesitation before Keith walked in, staring at his right hand with perplexion. 

 

“What is it?” Hunk asked, commenting ambiguously on the yellow goo or his hand impasse. 

 

Keith looked up, shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts. “N-nothing.” 

 

Lance’s breath of relief was interrupted by a string of profanities leaving Pidge’s mouth. “ _ They’re going into hyper-speed. _ ”

 

“Oh, no.” Hunk whispered. 

 

Lance let out a whine and clutched at his head, uncertain whether to be happy that Keith was alive or preparing himself for the worst for Shiro and Allura. 

 

“What’s his problem?” Keith inquired, gesturing to Lance. 

 

“What’s  _ your _ problem?” Lance hissed back, shooting a glare in his direction as his vision blurred. 

 

“I’m  _ concerned _ !” Keith cried, throwing his hands up in surrender. 

 

“You sure have a  _ funny _ way of showing it!” Lance barked, fingertips clawing at his skull. He wanted it to stop. He wanted it all to stop. 

 

“Guys,  _ shut up!  _ I can’t think with you two yelling!” Pidge snapped, eyes trained forward and darting around her dash. She flew her thrusters forward with a grunt, landing the lion on top of a large post as the Galra ship rose into the air. 

 

“They’re not gonna make it.” Hunk whispered. 

 

“They’re taking off to central command!  _ We have to do something. _ ” Keith yelled, practically shaking Pidge. Lance felt his thumb begin to ooze as he ripped off an entire piece of skin with his teeth.

 

“What would you like me to do, Keith? Stop that entire ship myself?” Pidge derided. 

 

“Guys, look!” Hunk shouted, pointing up. Lance followed his hand with shaky vision, feeling nauseous again. It was a pod, escaping out the back of the Galra ship before it blurred into hyperspace behind it, heading in their direction. 

 

“ _ That’s gotta be them! _ ” Pidge practically squealed, opening green’s mouth into the exit. 

 

There was a moment of tensed silence as the doors open, the hoarse and struggled breaths of the paladins filling the room with anticipation. 

 

And then the doors opened, and Shiro came through. 

 

But it was only Shiro. 

 

Lance felt his face fall along with the rest of the group. He stood up, eyes darting behind a wary Shiro. The door closed. He was alone.

 

His eyes were cast downward, pain plastered in the crevices of his sunken in skin. You could cut the tension with a blade. 

 

“Where’s Allura?” Keith asked, voice wavering. 

 

Shiro hung his head low, resting a quivering hand on Pidge’s seat. It convulsed with the anguish and reticency of the moment. “Shiro?” 

 

After a pregnant pause, Shiro spoke. “She sacrificed herself to save me.” His voice was discortant and he spoke through clenched teeth, jaw set with unrefined dolor. 

 

“So she’s still on that ship?” Pidge asked feverishly, the graveness of the situation flowing through the cockpit. 

 

“The ship that’s headed to Zarkon’s central command?” Hunk whispered, looking at Shiro for an answer they all already understood. 

 

“The place that’s way too dangerous for us to attack?” Keith muttered. The world seemed to slow down and stop spinning and Lance couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe. 

 

Shiro’s palm turned into a fist, slamming down onto the chair to glower at Keith. “It doesn’t matter how dangerous it is! We can’t let Zarkon get Allura.” 

 

“But you said going there would be a huge mistake.” Hunk breathed, eyes widening at Shiro with the epitome of apprehension. “You said for us to attack that place head-on would be the  _ dumbest possible thing we could ever do _ .” 

 

“I know.” Shiro dropped his head, eyebrows hardening. “But now we don’t have a choice.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another boring one, sorry guys! luckily this one will be the last of the canon compliants, and from this point on it gets interesting!!   
> this episode is 01x11 so i recommend watching before you read so you understand what's going on. you don't need to though!   
> hope you enjoy, at least a little bit.
> 
> *shakes fist angrily at voltron's lack of continuity*

Sometimes there are moments in life where you are waiting for the worst, and defeat is inevitable. Even before you are sure, even before you get the news, the world seems to stop for a second and let you take a breath, and everything that occurs from that point forward is like a dream. Foggy, surreal, slow-motioned, superficial. That’s how Lance felt at that moment, and he knew the others felt the same. Before Shiro had even opened his mouth, a part of Lance was sure this was the worst it could possibly get. Somewhere deep down inside of him fully understood what Shiro was about to say, as if time wasn’t linear and this had happened a thousand times before. It was strange, and Lance decided in a haze of disorientation that he would reflect on it later, but he wasn’t sure how, or when because from this point forward it became clear that nothing would ever be the same. 

 

The _ worst possible thing  _ had happened; Allura was a hostage, the last living Altean and the only person that could truly lead them to win this war was in the hands of the perpetrator, and everything felt even  _ worse _ than it did before. 

 

Lance wasn’t sure how he got into the castle, it all felt fuzzy like rubbing a balloon on your head. He remembered a gloved hand around his bicep, gently pulling him up stairs and through corridors as others let the silence and inevitability of their doom hang in the air like icicles. At this point, Lance felt used to the ringing in his ear and blunt ache of his body; it was the silence that stung him more, harder,  _ worse  _ in the very inescapable pits of his stomach and the back files of his brain until he had gone over every possible outcome of this situation and they all ended  _ horridly _ . 

 

His mind came back to the brittle pieces of reality when he found himself next to Keith, following the group until Shiro’s voice hit him in full volume, and he realized that he could have been talking the whole time and Lance wouldn’t have known. It was as if someone had unmuted the world at that moment and everything  _ hit _ . 

 

The world blew into color and sound and everything became a lot. 

His fingers began shaking. 

 

“...Find out where Zarkon’s central command is.” The voice rang and Shiro pulled off his helmet, eyes stone cold. 

 

“On it.” Pidge called, already at her seat with hands flying rapidly. It would almost be a comforting sight, except for the fact that nothing in the entire world could make his stomach stop churning and head stop echoing and heart stop whirring through his ears. Was anyone going to tell Coran?

 

“What happened? Where’s Allura?” His voice came into the picture and Lance immediately wanted to cry. He had just  _ met _ Allura and he felt like he was going to die, the only person Coran had left was Allura. Lance was horrified at the thought of seeing Coran heartbroken. 

 

“They captured her. She sacrificed herself to save me and the information.” How could Shiro’s tone be so even right now? “I didn’t have a choice.” 

 

“How is that possible?” Coran sounded so indignant and  _ pressed _ and out of character, Lance wasn’t sure if anything was real anymore

 

“Coran, I’m sorry things didn’t go as planned, but we can’t focus on what went wrong.” Shiro’s inflection was so patronizing that Lance wanted to walk out of the room. Something about Keith’s steady presence inches away kept him planted, though. If the hot-headed Keith was okay, Lance decided he would have to be strong too. “We’ve got to figure out how to make it right. Pidge, anything?” 

 

“Guys, look at this.” She called, voice not necessarily positive. She pulled up her computer to the big screen, leaving Lance’s vision shaky. His mouth went immediately dry. It was a diagram of Zarkon’s central command, incomprehensibly massive and a conceivable death trap. This could not be  _ any worse.  _

 

“Look at the size of it.” If it weren’t for the circumstances, he would almost be impressed. 

 

“I think we should go in right away. Every minute we waste gives Zarkon time to prepare for us.” Pidge calculated. 

 

“I agree.” Lance’s words came rolling off his tongue, mouth taking over for what his brain couldn’t compensate. “We form Voltron, fly in, fly out, dust off our hands, and walk away.” 

 

“Um, do you guys not remember the Balmera? We could barely take out one fleet but this...a base this size could hold a thousand fleets!” Hunk said uncertainty, always the voice of reason. Usually, he grounded Lance, but now his words were the exact opposite of what he needed to hear. The only thing keeping him from ascending to the ceiling and cracking through to the atmosphere of space was Keith’s even breathing. 

 

But then he opened his mouth. 

 

“Maybe we shouldn’t go on this mission at all.” 

 

Lance felt his throat constrict. No  _ way _ . 

 

“Think about it. We’ll be delivering the universe’s only hope to the universe’s biggest enemy.”

 

“Keith, that’s cold. Even for you.” Hunk deadpanned. “ What if it was one of us? What if it was me? You wouldn’t leave me, would you? Would you?” 

 

The hurt and softness in Hunk’s voice cut a dagger into Lance’s erratic heartbeat and suddenly he wanted to slap Keith right across the face. 

 

“I’m not saying I like the idea.” Keith defended, eyebrows drawing in. “I’m just thinking like a paladin!” 

 

“No,” Lance boiled. “You’re thinking of yourself because you’re too scared to do what’s right!” 

 

He could not  _ believe _ Keith was being this insensitive. Yes, it was a dangerous mission but this was  _ Allura _ . How the hell could they ever leave her behind? That was not even  _ close _ to being a viable option and even if it was easier, it would be a worse move than knocking on Zarkon’s door and inviting him for tea and supper. 

 

“Okay, we’re all upset because we lost Allura.” Pidge said sternly, hands flying to her temples. 

 

“No,” Coran piped, shoulders crunched to his ears. “ _ Shiro lost Allura! _ ” 

 

“Okay, okay! This isn’t helping!” Hunk scolded. “We can’t just sit here and bicker like this.” 

 

“Let’s focus. How are we going to get Allura?” Shiro exhaled. The group didn’t reciprocate. Lance muscles felt taut from the tips of his nose to his skull. He wasn’t going to breathe out until they got Allura, no, until Allura was back in the castle,  _ no _ , until he was safe at home with his mother’s soup and fragrant hair and no big purple scary monster aliens to worry about. He let himself crumble into his hands, willing the world to go away so he could think and be helpful for one second. He opened his eyes then, thinking that maybe if he  _ was _ productive he would feel better. 

 

“I’m going to check the perimeter of the base and look for entry points.” He heard himself say, and his body carried him over to his seat. If he wasn’t so terrified he could have fallen asleep, right there and then as his weight collapsed into his chair and he realized how drained he really was. 

 

“Good idea, Lance.” Shiro called over, and normally Lance would be ecstatic at the rare praise from Shiro, but in this instance it just felt stale.

 

Lance’s droopy eyes met Keith’s and there was a hint of something there, almost imploring. Lance quickly drew away, biting down on his lip hard. No amount of ringing in his ears could tune out Keith suggesting to leave Allura in the hands of the Galra. He was not about to let that go. 

 

He turned back to his keypad, reminding himself of the intent of his action, to distract and to be productive. He scanned the base, looking in every direction for some sort of blind spot, some sort of weak point, something. 

 

“C’mon…” Lance murmured, tasting metal from the newly formed cut in his lip. He began worrying the inside, gnawing at the arid inner-flesh of his cheek. There had to be a way in. He was good at this. He was going to find it. 

 

But what if there _ just wasn’t a way? _

 

“Anything?” Lance realized Shiro had joined him, hand resting on the back of his chair in focus. Lance immediately felt under the criticism of his glare. 

 

“There’s just no way in.” Lance sighed. “They’ll have us tracked from every direction.” 

 

“There’s gotta be something.” Shiro commanded, obviously not even believing the validity of his own statements. “Keep looking.” 

 

Lance felt an array of words rise in his throat, plenty of which would properly purge his feelings and express his emotions if he let out, but all of them ending with more trouble than they were worth. He knew Shiro was his leader, but why did he always want to undermine him? Maybe he was allowed to in a sense, but they were also  _ teammates _ and Lance was sick of taking his crap. What did he do to deserve all of Shiro’s emotions taken out on him? What he did deserve was to be respected and treated as an equal. Because Voltron was never about inferiority and subservience. But Lance shoved this into the back of his mind, forcing himself to focus on the task at hand if it was the last thing he would ever do. That could wait. He needed to focus. 

 

Shiro had crossed to Coran and Lance could tell that whatever was going on, it was important, and it was none of his business. He did catch an “I can’t lose Allura, too” which made his blood run cold and fingers shake more vigorously. Many were bloody from inconscient cuticle biting. He ignored that and continued searching, watching out of his peripheral as Coran and Shiro talked in hushed and apologetic voices. 

 

After five minutes or so, Shiro stopped them all. “Everyone eyes front. We’ve got a plan to get Allura.” 

 

They all stood up, moving in to listen. Lance could not shake his uneasiness. 

 

“We’re going to jump to the heart of the enemy, unseen and undetected.” 

 

Lance furrowed his brow. Jump there as in...wormhole?

 

“I thought we needed Allura to open a wormhole.” Pidge questioned. 

 

“It’s true that Allura powers the Castle’s ability to travel through wormholes.” Coran ran his hand under his chin. “However, I think we have enough of her residual essence stored in the system to make one jump.”

 

That sounded fake. Lance lifted an eyebrow, darting his eyes to Hunk standing adjacent to him. Hunk’s eyes were trained forward though, and Lance wondered how he could be the only one not thinking that was a load of bulshit. How would that even work? Was Allura’s  _ spiritual energy _ somehow stored in the Castle? Like in a little box? A compartment? A little jar that said “Allura’s residual essence, Do not touch!” 

 

“We’ll hide the castle here inside one of these giant gas planets in Zarkon’s command.” Coran placed a hand on his control and a screen popped up, displaying coordinates of a menacing-fortress of a solar system.

 

“From there we’ll use the castle to scan for Allura on Zarkon’s ship and attack before Zarkon knows what hit him.” 

 

Lance wanted to groan. His heart rate had just slowed to relatively normal speeds and now they were going out onto the front lines again? They were going to get themselves killed before they even freed  _ one _ planet. He shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. God, he was starting to sound like Keith. It didn’t matter how risky it was. They had to get back Allura. They didn’t have a choice. This mission was the most important thing they would ever do. 

 

“There’s only one hiccup.” Coran spoke up. “We have enough energy to wormhole in, but without Allura we won’t have enough energy to wormhole out.” 

 

“It doesn’t matter. We’re not leaving without her.” Shiro said back sternly. And he was right. 

 

\--

 

It wasn’t long before they were off, Coran charging up some of this residual energy to be used as a source for the teludav. Each paladin sat in their stations, breaths caught in throat, holding it in and hoping for the best, expecting the worst. They had not been in space four months and they were about to go into the heart of the enemy, something absolutely ludicrous and overly ambitious. No one was happy about this. But even Keith seemed unhesitant now, his act-first-think-later personality saving him.

 

Pink and purple sky flowed around them and the pathway of the wormhole began clearing into pitch black sky. It was chilling. “We’re here.”

 

They all stood up quickly, moving in towards the screen where Coran was searching for Allura’s energy signal. Everyone was still holding their breaths. 

 

“I’m detecting Allura’s energy signature.” Coran noted, hitting some commands to display her general location. “From this distance the signal’s pretty weak, but she’s somewhere in Zarkon’s main ship.”  

 

Lance wanted to ask if her energy signal would still be present if she was dead. He decided against it. 

 

“Once we get closer we’ll be able to narrow down the location where the Princess is being held.” 

 

“Okay guys, this is it.” Shiro spoke up from behind them. “Voltron is going to come in fast and without warning. We’ll smash out way into Zarkon’s ship and grab the Princess. Before they know what hit them, we’ll have the Princess and be on our way.” 

 

The group nodded in uniform stoicism. Lance looked around at the faces of the others. They all seemed blank. He wondered if everyone was hiding their uncertainty or if he was the only one terrified out of his mind. It was probably the former, as Lance guessed his face was probably emotionless from the outside too. 

 

“C’mon, Lance.” Keith’s voice shook him out of a stupor and he snapped into attention. He was giving him a weird look and Lance wanted to read it, but Keith had a funny way of locking up his feelings into stale stares and blank expressions. Lance muttered an apology and followed the rest of the group as they headed for the hangars. 

 

Feeling the cool air rush around him as he flew down the zip line wasn’t as fun as it usually was. Now it made him feel vulnerable. Afraid. His feet hung lifelessly below him and he felt his body quake with anticipation. This was it. The ringing built in his ears. 

 

The cockpit of blue was comforting however, always giving Lance a sense of being cradled and protected within her warm cabin. He closed his eyes and breathed in, attempting to focus his mind on what was really important and compartmentalize his fears. He could come back to them later. His hands found the controls and they formed Voltron smoothly, minds melding into a singular unit. 

 

When they were together Lance could instantly feel the unease from the rest of the group, it was evident. For some reason it made Lance feel better before making him feel worse. At least he wasn’t alone in that. 

 

That was the thing about Voltron, he never felt alone. 

 

They rushed into the system of planets, engaging Voltron in full throttle despite the disinclination beating in the heart of him. This was what needed to be done. 

 

Just then, something began forming around the rim of the planets, encasing the system in some sort of glowing purple field. Lance sucked in a breath. 

 

“ _ What is that _ ?” Hunk asked in petrification. 

 

“I don’t know, but I hope once we get the Princess we can find a way out of here.” Pidge responded, noting how it looked like some sort of supermassive forcefield that would electrocute you at the touch. 

 

Luckily they passed through in time, letting the gap close behind them until there was nothing left except a hundred ships heading towards them. 

 

“They’re gonna fire!” Pidge screamed, and then everything started moving in slow motion again. 

 

Instincts kicked in and Lance let his arms and hands do the work, moving as one with Voltron and trusting the others to know what to do because frankly--he had no idea. He closed his eyes tight and opened them again as Shiro rushed them forward, hooking onto a ship before Keith and Pidge pounded into it. 

 

“Form sword!” He heard Shiro scream, seemingly a thousand miles away. Keith followed orders without a hiccup, smoothly engaging the large apparatus to run along the edge of the ship, cutting at its amour and exploding it into cracked fractals, most likely killing hundreds of soldiers. 

 

Lance didn’t really feel anything but let his teeth clench at the thought, watching as they rocketed forward and cut into another ship ahead of them, pushing it into two others and letting them explode too. There were moments of pure bright light that was seemingly inescapable, blocking Lance’s view from anything but flashes of reds and yellows and purples that made his heart want to stop. The ringing in his ears failed to cease. They were never going to get to central by taking down ships like this, one at a time. Lance knew that there were thousands deployed by Zarkon headed towards them, and they wouldn’t stop until Voltron was defeated. He could feel that the rest of them knew that, too.

 

When the explosion cleared he became instantly aware of one of those fleets of ships headed at them at top speeds, shooting relentlessly. “More trouble, straight ahead!” 

 

“Form shoulder cannon!” Shiro yelled and Hunk responded just as Keith, smooth and collected. Lance shook his head in disbelief, wanting to be proud of his team for staying so focused and fluid, though he had a feeling it may not last for long. 

 

The fleet was taken down in an instant by Hunk’s canon. This seemed too easy. Zarkon had a plan. 

 

They pushed forward with Keith’s sword extended, dodging debris and rolling through the shards of broken vessels. “There’s Zarkon’s ship.” 

 

But then something flashed through all of them, and Voltron stood still. They all let out a scream and a groan of pain as Voltron became practically stagnant, as if being stopped by some invisible force. Lance tried to move his controls, but the motion only sent Voltron seizing and convulsing in idleness. 

 

“We lost the sword! Something’s malfunctioning!” Keith called out. 

 

Lance reached out to his controls, which was difficult to say the least, arms feeling tight and points of his body where he had been hurt today feeling even worse with stabbing pain. He  pressed around eagerly to see if there was anything wrong with Voltron itself, but each test he tried to run was inconclusive. It didn’t seem internal. 

 

“What’s happening?” Coran asked through the coms frantically. 

 

“Somebody do something!” Lance cried, pushing desperately at his thrusters. “Voltron’s frozen up!”

 

“Shiro!” He heard Keith call out through a mix of ringing ears and the vibration of his cockpit. 

 

“ _ I...can’t...hold it! _ ” Shiro’s voice sounded so distant, so incredulously pained. And with a bright flash and a release of agony, Voltron detached. 

 

Blue spiraled out of control, pushing Lance in the opposite direction of his teammates. He reached for his handles and pulled back and realized he could move her again under his own volition, pulling her into stability. 

 

“What just happened there? Something tore us apart!” Hunk called out, equally as confused as the rest of them. 

 

Lance opened his mouth to respond but something moved in his peripheral, and he turned his head to find hundreds of fighter jets heading towards them. “ _ Look! _ ”

 

“Why do I get the feeling these guys knew we were coming?” Keith breathed in anger. So much for the element of surprise.

 

In an unspoken decision they all thrust their lions forward, hoping for some direction of where to start but settling for the easiest option: to fight. For however long in took. 

 

Lance began freezing ships one by one, and Keith moved with him, shooting them after he had done so so they exploded into fragments. Lance felt himself smile a bit. For all the trouble they were worth, Keith and him really did work well together. 

 

But as much as he was satisfied with their work, every time they destroyed a jet another fleet seemed to materialize in their place, along with hundreds of other ships that stacked on top of each other would probably triple the height of Earth. 

 

Keith darted away from Lance and he frowned, immediately feeling the deficit from lack of backup. He heard his voice through the com. “Shiro, are you okay?” 

 

Lance furrowed his brow, realizing he never saw Shiro move out from where Voltron had deformed. He turned his lion to see the black lion entrapped in some kind of purple glow, similar to that of the force field surrounding the system.

 

“Something is overriding the controls! My lion is not respond--” His voice cut off in a scream of agony that cut in and out of the com and made Lance wince. 

 

“Shiro’s in trouble! I’m going in!” Keith called and Lance rolled his eyes but understood. Brotherly bond and all that. 

 

“What do we do now guys? Our plan isn’t really working out as planned.” Hunk called and Lance turned around from the ship he was freezing to see Shiro outside his lion that was being pulled into Zarkon’s ship.  _ What the hell? _

 

“I’m going for the Black Lion. You guys get the Princess, now!” Lance heard Shiro through struggled breaths. What was  _ happening? _

 

“I’ve identified Allura’s exact location. Uploading the coordinates to you now!” Coran said. Finally, some good news. “In the meantime, I’ll provide covering fire from out here. All alone, against, against a thousand fleets….So yeah, do you mind hurrying?”

 

“You guys get the Princess without me.” Keith said sternly. 

 

“What?” Lance raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “We’ve got to stick together. What are you doing?” 

 

“Whatever I can.” And then he was off, and Lance instantly wanted to punch something. There Keith was again, doing something totally irrational and unnecessary and dangerous. Lance would never admit that he was worried about him, but he felt his bottom lip pop out and his eyebrows turn upward, and suddenly he wanted to follow Keith and give him support. 

 

_ Ugh _ , Why did he always feel the need to do that? Keith could handle himself. He would be fine. Just because they worked well as a team doesn’t mean he needed to follow him everywhere.

 

He turned his lion around away from Keith and felt stupid, like a toddler holding a grudge. But then Keith’s voice rang out again, and he immediately turned back around, preparing for the worst. 

 

“Woah, who is that?” Keith’s lion was hovering over Black who was lying next to a figure with broad shoulders and thick armor. 

 

“It’s Zarkon!” Coran’s yell reverberated through Lance’s lion and Lance immediately froze in terror. “Keith, get out of there, now! Zarkon’s too powerful!” 

 

_ No, he wouldn’t-- _

 

“This is my chance to put an end to the Galra Empire.” Keith’s voice was low and assured. Lance felt his throat close. “I have to take it.” 

 

Lance turned his lion away, following Hunk to the coordinates on his screen. He couldn’t watch this. He couldn’t watch Keith die. If he was going to be an absolute  _ moron _ , he wouldn’t give himself the satisfaction of a front view to his idiocracy. If he was going to die, Lance didn’t want that implanted in his brain forever. 

 

“This is it. The princess is in this part of the ship.” Hunk said, aiming at a piece of the left quadrant. 

 

“How do we get in?” Lance asked, hiding the Keith-implanted-distress in his voice. 

 

“Maybe I can try hacking one of their cargo bays.” Pidge responded. 

 

“We don’t have time for that!” Hunk called back. A ship exploded to Lance’s right, just missing Blue. Sweat dripped down from the inside of his helmet. 

 

“Do you have a better idea?” Pidge challegened.

“Actually, yes, I do.” Hunk said, and Lance could hear the smile in his voice as he rammed Yellow into the ship, sending an array of smoke that blocked Lance’s view and sucked air pockets out into space. 

 

Instantly a fleet of fighters were focused on Yellow, and Lance let out a sigh. “Looks like we’ve gotta cover Hunk’s butt!” 

 

Pidge and him began knocking out jets one by one, doing whatever it took to keep the back of the dormant lion safe. 

 

After ten minutes of fighting, Lance was starting to get impatient. “Hunk, did you get the Princess?” 

 

“I got her,” He said through the coms. “But there’s a change of plans.” 

 

“ _ What _ ?” Lance moaned, head pounding. 

 

“We’re saving Shiro. You head back to the castle. We’ll be back soon.” Allura’s voice blared and Lance felt himself relax a little bit and the sound of it, safe and breathing. 

 

He turned his lion around and Pidge and him moved back toward the castle, taking out incoming ships along the way. They were either getting lazier, or they were getting better. Either way, they had gotten through the worst of it. 

 

“Where’s Keith?” Lance asked as they headed into their hangars. 

 

“He’s still fighting Zarkon.” Coran said evenly, popping up on Lance’s dash. 

 

“ _ What _ ?” Lance began sounding like a broken record. 

 

“I kept telling him to stop, but he turned my com off.” Coran grunted, eyes almost rolling. Lance opened his mouth to yell about how stupid Keith was, but Coran cut him off. “In better news, Hunk and Allura just found Shiro and they’re headed to Black. Stay in your lions.” His video feed disappeared. Lance was alone.

 

It felt nice to be protected inside of the Castle, but something still felt off, and as he sat in silence in the hangar, a million thoughts rushed into his brain, preparing for the worst. It was the quietest it had been in awhile, and the only thing there was the ceaseless ringing that filled Lance up and had become a part of him. He realized how tired he was then. His eyes dared to close on him and he ran a hand down his face, scrunching his legs into his chest and sitting crossed-legged, tapping impatiently on his cheek. 

 

Suddenly two figures whirred by the exit of the hangar, and it was quick enough for Lance to only recognize as Black with Red in his mouth after it had passed. He straightened in his seat, restraining himself from giving a whoop of victory. Hopefully Keith was okay in there. Hopefully Shiro was okay in there. Shiro was flying the lion, so he probably was. And somehow he convinced himself that Keith was okay too, even though his lion looked pretty lifeless. 

 

The castleship immediately began moving, and Allura’s face appeared on Lance’s screen, back in her control center. “Alright Paladins. Time to get out of here.” 

 

Lance let a breath of belief flood his system and leaned back in his chair, preparing for a wormhole jump. But nothing happened. He furrowed his brow. 

 

“Hello?” Hunk’s voice appeared next to her. “What’s going on? I don’t see a wormhole.” 

 

“The Galra barrier is jamming our ability to create one.” Coran’s shaky voice came through. 

 

Lance gulped.  _ No _ . They were so close, they were going to get out--they had to get out! They had come so far, this couldn’t be the end. 

 

Ships began to corner them, fleets and fleets of jets and fighters and large vessels packing in around the castle until Lance could feel himself suffocating, eyes darting around in peril, unsure of who was okay and who wasn’t. The ringing grew louder. 

 

He could barely hear the Coran scream, “They have us completely surrounded!” 

 

But then something flickered, and it was clear from where Lance was that the barrier had suddenly dissipated. They had open skies. 

 

“What just happened?” Pidge called out, confusion evident. 

 

“Who cares?” Hunk groaned. “Wormhole!” 

 

And just like that one appeared right in front of them, sucking them in at warp speeds and shooting them through. Lance felt a smile spill onto his face. They were going to make it out. 

 

But before his trapped breath could release, the wormhole’s color began to shift around them, changing into something darker. Lance saw flashes of blinding lighting around them. Was this supposed to be happening?

 

“Coran, what’s happening?” Shiro called out, stress forming into an exasperated tone. They all just wanted to get out. 

 

“The integrity of the wormhole has been compromised!” He called back, sounding absolutely terrified. “It’s breaking down!” 

 

Lance shot forward in his seat. “What does that mean?!” 

 

“It means we have no control over where we’re headed!” 

 

“Zarkon’s witch…” Shiro whispered, and the whole castle began shaking, and then spinning, and Lance’s vision blurred, unable to focus on anything. 

 

His lion’s energy dimmed and the coms went dead, cutting Lance off from the rest of the group. All Lance was aware of was the ringing in his ears and his struggled breath, letting out screams to the rest of the group. “Coran! Keith! Shiro! Allura?” 

 

No one responded. His own voice became masked in the ringing. “Where are we going?!” 

 

It felt like he was underwater. The ringing built until it was more of a loud peal, ricocheting of the walls of Lance’s skull and the cockpit and every inch of his consciousness until his head was in his hands, mouth opening and probably spewing out a shrill scream that was reticent to Lance under the bellow of the ringing that cut off all of his thoughts. 

  
“ _ Stop, stop stop stop stop stop stop! _ ” His lips formed and his heart pounded through his whole body like a hammer on wood, shaking him as the castle churned his stomach. The ringing seemed like a shriek in his ear everything went dark purple, and then red, and then white, and then there was nothing. 


End file.
